Archery Shot

[mitch]

Monday morning I was sitting in my blind when a group of 7 turkeys appear out of no where to my left. Of course I was ready for them with my bow laying on the ground and no arrow nocked. Somehow I managed to get situated and to full draw without being noticed. They were broadside so I picked a bird with a beard and let it fly. It looked and sounded like a good hit. The bird jumped about 4 feet in the air and flopped on the ground for a few seconds. I thought he was down but he got up and ran away with the others, but his right wing was dragging. I spent the next 2 hours looking for him with no luck.

I thought the arrow passed through, but upon further inspection of the arrow it only appeared to penetrate 4 or 5 inches. I was shooting new mechanical broadheads. I have shot deer with fixed blade broadheads with complete pass through. My only theory is that the arrow hit the shoulder.

I can't believe that a turkey could stop an arrow like that. I'm really bummed that I wounded/couldn't find a bird and it would have been my first turkey. Has anyone else had something like this happen???

[Cheetah]

Bummer on the lost bird. I've heard a lot of stories about birds lost to archery tackle. It's a tough shot to make.

Depending on what mechanical head you have and the diameter it opens up to, a pass through might not be guaranteed or even expected. Especially if it glanced off a big wing bone and lost a lot of energy in the process. I'm no expert on turkeys with archery tackle though, maybe some of the other guys here have some advice to share.

The good news is if you see this gobbler again he will be easy to identify with the bad wing. Maybe you can get another crack at him.

[Wallydog]

Mitch,

I was using Vortex mechanical broadheads a few years ago......I thought I understood my mentor say to absolutely use them....but he said to absolutely NOT use them. Results were: one arrow bounced/deflected off a bird at 20 yards. What?? Later the same day I had a 10 yard shot and the arrow only penetrated a couple of inches and he ran off with his buddies like yours. I too searched for several hours finding nothing. I switched to a fixed blade Muzzy and problems solved. There is something about how feathers can bind a mechanical and cause it to malfunction. Aggravating, but one more thing learned while chasing the king of the spring!

WD

[sticknstring]

I've been on a fair share of bloodtrails following up lost birds. They're tough creatures. Most of the time if left alone and given time, they'll find a brush pile or a cedar tree and lie down to rest/hide. Always walk slow and scan ahead with binoculars and often you can get a follow up shot. If I make a questionable hit, I try to wait at least 2 hours before following up. I've only found one bird dead, the rest required follow up shots.

How much poundage are you shooting? It takes quite a bit of energy for those big expandables to open up and push through a turkey. I love shooting mechanicals but you have to have the proper setup. I've seen more than one arrow bounce off a bird before. Those wing butts are solid. Fixed blade broadheads work great too. Not as much wiggle room with shot placement but they'll get the job done if put in the right place.

[DonBo]

Hard to say what happened, but you said the arrow looked like it had 4-5" of penetration. That's dang near a passthrough in my book, we're not talking whitetail deer here. My guess is you hit high, or low and only shot through a portion of that bird.

I've shot several with my bow and have never seen a bounce-out, not that it can't happen, I've just never seen it. FWIW, I only shoot 55 lbs. Normally with a good hit, ie. lung area, a bird will only go a short distance and pile up. Certainly not all hits are in the sweetspot. A gut shot turkey will act just like a deer and hole up in a brush pile or heavy brush, or tall grass, or...whatever.

They are a lot tougher to bring down with archery tackle than most will ever realize, that's part of what keeps us doing it. Hopefully you did just get a glancing blow off the tough wing butt and he'll recover just fine.

I also thought I had a good hit on a bird this spring. He was in full strut when I shot and I must have misjudged where the feathers ended and the body started. I think next time I'll try to wait till he's either facing me, or facing straight away, as your up and down room for error is much greater on those shots than a broadside shot. You also negate the tough wingbone area that the broadside shot gives you.

[eyeguy 54]

what sticknstring said just happened to me Monday when I shot mine. Bad shoulder and back means I had to turn my poundage down to about 50. I hit him square in the chest as he was facing me. After about 5 minutes of me waiting for him to fall over he flew back into a swamp and I could see the arrow hanging out the backside. I waited till Tuesday a.m. to go and look. Being a rookie I thought he would be dead so I left my bow in the car. Spotted him after looking about 20 minutes and he flew again but I could tell he was in bad shape. Followed his flight path and found him again and no more flying. He did try to run a bit but I easily caught up to him. Arrow was still in the bird. Magnus Stinger broadhead but low poundage and a 40 yard shot is why it didn't go thru. Tough birds thats for sure. 2 years ago I shot one with the Stingers at 20 yards at 62 pounds and it broke the wing and zipped thru and flop flop was all he could do.

[mitch]

Here's a pic of the arrow. There were feathers a little further up than it shows now. The broadhead opened up like it was supposed to and my draw weight is around 55-60 pounds. It was only a 20 yard shot. I read on here to use mechanicals over fixed blade broadheads. I'll chalk it up as kind of a freak event. I'll be using my fixed blades for the rest of the season.

[mrklean]

shoulder shots are tough, my jake i got this year didnt get a ton of penetration but it did enough damage to kill it i shoot 67 pounds with a 375-400 grain arrow. My buddy on the other hand had the same thing happen and the bird ran off he shoots about 52 pounds.

[Hoyt4]

Even with fixed there will be times you will not get pass through shots. The birds are too light not like a deer so the arrow pushing the bird weight. I've knocked many right off there feet sent them backwards with still good enough penetration. I'm shooting around 62lbs I've had higher poundage but turkeys never hold still long sometimes so I make sure I'm able to hold for long time.

I use the same broadheads you are using(best one I've used for birds yet after many trials) On some I add a larger chissel tip seams to me that it bust up the wings more and gets more penetration.

Always keep another arrow ready if the head or body is getting back up you put the next shot into him. Once I shoot I re-load and get to full draw just incase I need to. Keep a good eye on the bird. They love to get under thick brush or cedars. If you are still on your property always go after bird or deer with the bow or gun. Made that mistake as a rookie in Missouri put the gun down walked up to my bird and he got up and ran away.

[Archerysniper]

With the hollow wing bones and feathers of a turkey they can suck up a bit of kinetic energy. I shot one 3 years ago that I didn't get a pass through and that was in the center of the wing joint broadside hitting the wing joint on the other side he dropped in his tracks but the arrow was only through the other side 3 or 4 inches and that was with my bow arrow and fixed slicktrick broadhead that I used for moose hunting 74# and a 430 grain arrow.

But like Don said 4" on a turkey your broadhead was almost through the bird.

[sticknstring]

Are you guys shooting poults to get 4" passthroughs?

[Archerysniper]

Are you guys shooting poults to get 4" passthroughs?

If it has a visable beard they yes